< /> Computer and programming tools, by Eric Piehl Based on work experience, and classes I have taken, starting 2009-10-11, last updated 2021- 08-08. First North American Serial Rights, USA Copyright © 2009-2021 by Eric D. Piehl. While helping family, friends and colleagues on various projects, we have learned some things. In an attempt to keep these processes repeatable, and keep myself organized, I record and maintain some helps on this subject. For information on green or < /> other programming subjects, please see a list of this document's sister docs. Education Free college courses online. Free public-domain books online. List of local institutions at www.ericpiehl.com. General Recommendations for running a safe computer as an end-user (antivirus, antispyware, backup, etc.), in my other document "Protect your smartphones, tablets and computers from spam and malware, via antivirus". Under Microsoft Windows, reboot (1) before installing software if you have been working for a little while, (2) between installing or upgrading any two software products, and (3) after your last install (some wiggle room). On your Android device, install a security app such as Lookout Mobile. Although … Before attending any protests that might get you arrested, read and follow the EFF's recommendations about mobile cell phones at protests. If you have an Android mobile phone, please see Whispercore and www.networkworld.com/news/2012/051412-android- 259182.html. Support to protestors and journalists and my general article "Demonstrating protesting traveling in heavily-policed or authoritarian areas, or when targeted by adversaries." To search for people from phone numbers, see: o https://duckduckgo.com/?q=aaa-eee-nnnn, o https://google.com/search?q=aaa-eee-nnnn, o https://goo.gle/search?q=aaa-eee-nnnn [?], o https://g.co/search?q=aaa-eee-nnnn [?], o https://www.spokeo.com/reverse-phone-lookup, o https://www.whitepages.com > reverse phone, o www.whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/aaaeeennnn. o From cell mobile number. o Some more formats > scroll down to section Google Phonebook. o NEW Description: . https://Pipl.com . http://itools.com/tool/wink-people-search . https://www.facebook.com/, Piehl-2 </> Computer and Programming Tools . https://www.linkedin.com/, . http://www.zabasearch.com/phone/aaaeeennnn. o NEW http://resource.referenceusa.com/about-us/ via local library? To find email addresses from names. Find people. Or here. Or here. NEW All kinds of information. NEW Niche search engines. Laws of Programming. As far as I know, the first law, I came up with myself. The second, I probably got from somewhere else, but have used it with coworkers so long that I can no longer remember to where to attribute them. So until I get better attribution: o Eric's first law: Any useful computer program must be modified. o Eric's second law: Leave some functionality for Release 1.1. o Smiths/GE: Any computer development project takes longer and costs more. To schedule group meetings, use www.doodle.com. To send SMS text messages from an emailer: o freecarrierlookup.com http://freecarrierlookup.com/ o freesmsgateway.info http://www.freesmsgateway.info/ o https://lifewire.com/how-to-email-a-text-4147467. More tools at http://pcsupport.about.com/od/software-tools. “Library of millions of free books, movies, software, music,” and website Wayback Machine (not the same as Apple Time Machine) at the Internet Archive. Free public-domain books online. Free movie streaming. Weather App https://MyRadar.com. Weather (for now, USA-only and nearby areas, sorry) Big-picture map https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov or https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/national_forecast/natfcst.php or https://www.nws.noaa.gov/outlook_tab.php. Best forecast, no ads www.weather.gov. o Local www.weather.gov or https://forecast.weather.gov/zipcity.php > upperleft=yourZipCode > Go. o Also good, no ads www.weather.gov/yourAirportCode > Map or Weather Story (each tab). o https://weather.gov/alerts > alert type > all or your state or zone or county. o https://graphical.weather.gov. o https://radar.weather.gov. o https://airquality.weather.gov. o https://aviationweather.gov. o For hourly weather forecast graphs, on above, right-click the barchart thumbnail > Open in new tab. If that service is temporarily down, use Piehl-3 </> Computer and Programming Tools http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.98949&lon=- 85.49941919999998&unit=0&lg=english&FcstType=graphical (put in your latitude and longitude). o Useful GOES imagery http://www.goes.noaa.gov/ECIR3.html. o For satellite photos (let you see how thick the clouds are, to gauge how fast the rain or snow might fall), on above, right-click the satellite thumbnail > Open in new tab > scroll down > click link “Color Enhanced Image #3”. o Eclipse (deprecated) https://www.weather.gov/source/crh/eclipse.html. Show weather forecast along your trip www.wunderground.com/wundermap#roadtrip. The 6 Best Weather Apps for your Phone. Misery index current https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/overlay=misery_index > drag around, zoom in, and click on your location. Heat index https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/heat_index_MAX.shtml. Heat Index v humidity: https://wrh.noaa.gov/psr/general/safety/heat/heatindex.png and https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_index. Dewpoint v humidity: o DewPoint°C = Temp°C - (100-RH)/5. o DewPoint°F = Temp°F - (100-RH)*9/25. o RH = 100 - 5*(Temp°C - DewPoint°C). o RH = 100 – 25/9*(Temp°F - DewPoint°F). -- https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_point Dewpoint Dewpoint Comfort >21°C >70°F Oppressive for people accustomed to temperate climates [wiki]. >18°C >65°F Lots of moisture in the air, becoming oppressive [weather.gov]. >18°C >65°F Uncomfortable if accustomed to tropical climates [wiki]. >15°C >59°F Uncomfortable if accustomed to temperate climates [wiki]. 13-18°C 55-65°F "Sticky" with muggy evenings [weather.gov]. 10-15°C 50s °F Dry and comfortable [Eric]. -5-15°C 24-60°F OSHA at 20-24.5°C (68-76°F) [wiki]. <13°C <55°F Dry and comfortable [weather.gov]. Maps https://google.com/maps/place/nnnn+street,+city,+state+zip https://google.com/maps/place/urlencode(name+to+search) works sometimes https://google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=urlencode(name+to+search) https://maps.google.com/maps?q=urlencode(name+to+search)&f=q&lci=bike bikes! Directions https://google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=urlencode(target+address) or https://maps.google.com/?saddr=Current+Location&daddr=urlencode(target+address) Parking https://parkopedia.com/parking/locations/addr_ess/?arriving=yyyymmddhhmm&leaving=y yyymmddhhmm. Genealogy, small towns, nearby towns in various languages, nearby airports, recent weather http://fallingrain.com/world/a/K/a/l/i/s/h/ or https://google.com/search?q=Starobin+site%3Afallingrain.com, e.g., http://fallingrain.com/world/US/MI/Ada.html. Piehl-4 </> Computer and Programming Tools Flight info Fare finder https://skyscanner.net. Choose seats in accordance with https://seatguru.com. Can tell others (or your phone) to follow flight with: o FlightAware > yourFlight, in form https://flightaware.com/live/flight/sssnnnn (easy, may show ahead or behind). o FlightRadar24, in form https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/aaannnn. o PlaneFinder > Map Options > plane=yourFlight, in form https://planefinder.net/flight/aaannnn (projects current position based on position and velocity 6 minutes previous, uses ADS-B). Editors (doc) Fat-client (installed) software (review): Microsoft Office/Microsoft 365, great, $. If eligible, save money by: (A) downloading via deals with certain employers, or (B) with the "Education" packages, often through your school. o For Microsoft Office Online (review), free, see next paragraph "cloud-based". o Verify your version has all the subunits you need: real Outlook, Visio, SQL Server, etc. o If you have Office XP, 2000 or 2003, install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. o No current need to upgrade from Office 2007 or 2010. o Other Microsoft Office free downloads. o Microsoft stopped selling Office, because they found they could make more money from yearly subscriptions, which they branded Microsoft Office 365. And now I hear that, as of 2020-04, MS Teams has been added to MS Office 365, and branded Microsoft 365. o Some versions may include Microsoft Office Publisher, $, publishing and typesetting. I use it for networking cards and a couple other projects. o Running Microsoft Office on Linux. Apple iWork (formerly Productivity Apps), free on Apple iOS, iPadOS and macOS. Components: Pages (Word), Numbers (Excel), and Keynote (PowerPoint) (Keynote better for incorporating video, according to Rick Darke, presentation at OSU, 2021-02-06). Apache OpenOffice, pretty good, free. Mostly-equivalent to MS Office. Maybe should use fork LibreOffice below. Components: Writer (Word), Calc (Excel), Impress (PowerPoint), Draw (Visio), Base (Access/SQL Server), and Math (equations). LibreOffice, said to be very good, free. Said to be similar to MS Office. Components: Writer (Word), Calc (Excel), Impress (PowerPoint), Draw (Visio), Base (Access/SQL Server), Math (equations), and Charts. SoftMaker FreeOffice review. Components: TextMaker (Word), PlanMaker (Excel), Presentations (PowerPoint), BasicMaker (VBA). Adobe InDesign $, publishing and typesetting, I read is for plotters, mills and engravings, or for posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, and books. More alternatives. Cloud-based, runs in a web browser window (Software as a Service SaaS) (review), may be good for collaboration (multiple people working on same doc at same time): Piehl-5 </> Computer and Programming Tools Prezi presentations are very nice, freemium. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, running on Google Drive (review), good, free. If you have a Gmail email account, you already have access to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides through your email account. The most common used parts of the above: documents, spreadsheets and presentation.